Burial vault



Feb. 24, 1942. RI 2,274,108

BURIAL VAULT Filed FeB. 5, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR,

" A we 7740 0.

"" 37 BY w/ ATTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 24, 1 942 i 21:01am

. This .inventionzrelates.v .to improvements....in

burial. vaultsand particularly toijthat class ..:of

casket. receiving. burial vaults commonly known as, surfaceivaults. which are. only. partially; em: beddedfintheearth; The principal, object; -.of; .this inventi on is; to,

' provide a burial vault having acasket chamber provided with .a. metal, liningandj a plurality; of paced apar p s. cover, m mb rs th ou h. which moisture gmay passfroin the, casket chamber... .1. p. Another. biectgointh i stant. i v n ion. h provisionof a bur vaul ha in a c k t 9. mi r av nea .Qoverpla ;t at. nter ks. wit 1 11 d a io fo med a on e i ne u per. sur ac f. eho v o eme-1a.; g 1, A, further objectof this invention isthe. pro vi o o axbm' al. ul s co s ru t d. eat? m nt a su a i ry; e kewhemb b permitting the moisture to escape therefrom .by

n t or es I A still further object of this. inventionv is the provision of a burial vault having a 'metal'linin'g positioned to prevent the passage 'o'f'water to the casket chamber. W Ht hese as well as other objects which will appear during the course of the following speci fication, reference will now be had to the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a burial vault partly broken away, embodying this invention.

Fig, 2 is a plan view of the burial vault, with parts broken away to show the inner construction.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line IIIIII of Fig. 2; and i Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of an end portion of the vault taken on line IV--IV of Fig. 2.

Throughout the several views, like reference characters designate similar parts and the numeral I is a vault body or box of substantially rectangular form and comprising end wallsl2 and I4, opposite side walls l6 and I8, and bottom wall 20. This vault body is preferably made of concrete reinforced with welded steel rods 22. Other materials suitable for withstanding the V 12 7 6 I ljjfnul t Mum; a

.tL g fimbf .1 .7. p A I .1.attainment y 5, 19.46,jsiiaiiualaiisill. 1 Q. H

as; dele ates. int-agate at ledge Ztandgbottom wall. 20,; is. groovellt formed in theinnersurfaces of walls'l2', It, .l.5 and t8i, to extend. i. entirely. around. the casket -.chaniber. The: lower. portion. 28'; of. the inner: wall: surface of the body member, immediately. above. led ge 124; is substantially. planar, while the upper. portion 3110f. saidinner.walllsurface is horizontally; cor rugated.topresentridges and valleys .32: and M respectively. 1

Aasheetmetal lining. oL-weather resisting: material, such: as copper, lead, zinc,.':etc.;,.is formed to... completely cover the' bottom wall,:.also the end, and side walls up tothe. corrugated portions] Thismetal'. is preformedaL-and. serves as apart of: the mold for casting the concrete; "Before the concrete .i's'...poured,.the1 outer; S111: face of lining35 iscoated witha waterprooftad hesive mixture 31," thatliserves.tolbindiitheccm crete and rnetal together and also protects the metal from moisture that ,might: pass through elements and of suitable strength might also be 7 the concrete,- The top .edge. of. the :ivault...b.ody is provided with a groove'tt which extends .e'n-. tirelytherearound.r. p Thisvatlltbod'y isnow readyfora-posit'ioning intheearthior the. reception. of: the .casket, which occupies the lower portion or chamber 40 of the vault. The top of the body It is usually placed substantially flush with the earth surface, however, this position might be materially varied.

After the casket has been positioned in the casket chamber), a filler of a suitable sealing material is deposited in the groove 42 formed in lining 36 at groove 26, and a metal form 44 of rectangular shape with upturned edges 46 is fitted into said groove and coated with the waterproofing mixture 31. This form is upwardly dished and provided with two upwardly extended thimbles 48. Concrete is now poured onto saidform to a depth substantially to the corrugated portion of the vault body wall with the thimbles 48 extending thereabove, as shown in Fig; 4, to form an inner cover 58.

An inverted, dish-shaped reinforced concrete form member 52 is now positioned into said vault body to rest on the marginal edges of the inner cover 50 with a white lead coating 54 therebetween. The upper portion of form member 52 is positioned slightly'below the plane of the top of the vault body. Concrete 58 is now poured onto the form 52 so that the vault body thereabove is completely filled to form an intermediate cover member 58, which is interlocked with the corrugations 30 to prevent displacement of the parts.

While the concrete 56 is yet green, a cover plate 60 of inverted, dish-shaped form and having depending parallel ribs 62 and 64 extending along its lower marginal edge, is positioned with its outer edge flush with the outer surface of the end and side walls of box Ill, and with the rib 62 positioned in groove 38 with a suitable filler 65 therebetween and with the deeper rib 64 embedded in the green cement.

This cover plate 66 is preferably made of terrazzo reinforced with rods 66, but may be made of various other types of material suitable to withstand the elements and to present a good appearance.

A tablet 68 is formed at one end portion of the cover plate 60 and is adapted to carry a suitable name plate 10. The outside corners of the vault body and the cover plate are rounded to preclude chipping.

An air chamber 12 is formed between the inner cover 50 and the intermediate cover 58. A dead air space M is formed between intermediate cover 58 and the cover plate 66.

When the burial vault is thus positioned in the ground with the cover member 60 exposed and with the corpse in the casket within the casket chamber, there will be considerable moisture present within said chamber, and it is one of the objects of this invention to permit the escape of said moisture so as to present a substantially dry condition within the casket chamber.

The moisture is permitted to escape in the following manner:

When the sun shines on cover 60 it will be heated and a portion of this heat will be conducted to the intermediate cover 58, thus causing a greater evaporation of the moisture within the casket chamber. The moisture laden air will contact the underside intermediate cover 58 and the moisture will be taken up by the porous concrete material and conducted through this cover to dead air space, then through the cover member 60 to the atmosphere. Should there be a cooling of the air within chamber 12 to cause a condensation of the moisture therein,

the water will be collected therein because of the thimbles 48 which project above the surface of the inner cover 50. By this process, after a period of time, substantially all the moisture will be removed from the casket chamber and because of the metal lining, no water can seep into the chamber. In rainy seasons, should any water seep'through the covers, it could not go further than chamber 72 and. would be removed in a like manner, as described above.

Since many minor changes might be made in the device without departing from the spirit of the invention, it is desired to be limited only by the scope of the appended claim.

' Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

In a burial vault an open topped, waterproof box having an inner horizontally disposed, grooved ledge intermediate the top and. bottom thereof; an inner cover member of waterproof material resting upon said grooved ledge and having upturned outer edges disposed adjacent the inner walls of said box and having an upwardly concave bottom with a tubular thimble extending upwardly therefrom to form an opening therethrough whereby water passing upward- 1y therethrough will collect on top of said inner cover below the upper end of said thimble and will not drain back into the box below said inner cover member; a porous intermediate cover member having a concave lower surface to form a chamber directly above said inner cover member and having a planar top surface substantially flush with the top edge of said box, the edges of said intermediate cover being directly interlocked with the inner wall of said box above said ledge; and an outer cover of porous material recessed at its under side to form an air chamber between the outer cover and the intermediate cover and having spaced apart depending ribs adapted to respectively engage in grooves formed in said intermediate cover and in the upper edge of said box.

' LUE TRIPP. 

